Noticing
by Sarcastic pistachio
Summary: AU: Quinn and Dani are sisters in high school. Santana Lopez is Quinn's best friend. As she starts to take more notice of Dani she realizes that she is a lot more interesting than she originally thought. Santana/Dani, Quinn/?.
1. Chapter 1

AN: this is my first fanfiction ever and I'm doing this on mobile so sorry for the bad formatting and any mistakes. Reviews would be very much appreciated.

In this story Quinn and Santana are Juinors (16 almost 17) and Dani is a sophomore (15). This is probably going to be in second person for the most part.

* * *

You've never really noticed Dani before. Obviously you know who she is, Quinn Fabray's younger sister, and Quinn just so happens to be your best friend. You've seen her in passing, when you have sleepovers at Quinn's house or when she rides home with her sister on days when Quinn gives you a lift, but you've never really payed her that much attention. You know she and Quinn are close, at least that's what you hear from Quinn, but you don't realize how protective she is of her younger sister until the firs time that Dani gets slushied.

Dani isn't a loser by any means but she is far from being as popular as Quinn. Not to mention that being out and proud at a school like Mckinley doesn't exactly do wonders for a person's reputation (you would know). The only reason you've probably avoided the same fate is because of your position on the Cheerios. It's actually surprising that this hasn't happened to Dani before.

You're there when it happens. You're putting some of your books in your locker when you hear some commotion at the opposite end of the hallway. You turn just in time to see one of the newer cheerleaders fling a cherry red slushy all over Dani's face and clothes. You contemplate going over there to either help Dani or slap that cheerleader, you're pretty sure her name is Bree, for being so stupid. Before you actually manage to make a decision you see Dani turn on her heel and run in the other direction. Just like that it's over and everyone goes back to whatever the hell they were doing before.

* * *

When lunch comes around you sit at a table with Quinn watching her glance around the cafeteria. "Looking for someone?" you question. "I haven't seen Dani since we got to school this morning." she replies. " Well some cheerleader threw a slushy at her this morning so maybe she went home to change." Quinn whips around to face you. "Wait, what? Who did that?" It surprises you how upset she seems. She knows how the social ladder works in this school works at this school and she must know that Dani isn't very high up there, right? " It was that new girl, Bree or something." Quinn is silent for a minute and seemingly forgets about it and goes back to her lunch.

When Cheerios practice begins you know she didn't forget about it. She makes Bree run double what everybody else does during warmups and when she finally let's her join in to practice routines, she makes sure that Bree is on the bottom of the pyramid.

You go home with Quinn later that day to work on homework together. You go into her room and flop down on her bed, exhausted from practice. "I'll be right back, I'm going to check on Dani." she says. Dani's door must be open because you can hear most otherein conversation. "Where were you today?" " I left early." "Why?" Quinn responds. " You know why Quinn. I didn't feel like spending the rest of the day covered in sticky goo." Dani replies quietly. " If it makes you feel any better, I made Bree run extra today." "You didn't have to do that Quinn." "Of course I did." Quinn says instantly. " No one is allowed to do that to you. Not while I'm around."

For someone reason you find ther conversation intriguing. It's from then on that you start to notice Dani.

* * *

AN: I'm not quite sure if I want to continue in second person or use third person instead. I was also thinking of pairing Quinn with someone so let me know what you guys think I should do and please review if you think I should continue. I am also just now realizing how short this is. I'll try to make the next chapter longer.


	2. Chapter 2

**AN**: I realize that I posted this story less than 12 hours ago but I wasn't really satisfied with the first chapter. I was however, really happy with the amount of favs and follows. I especially appreciate you first 4 reviewers. I didn't really think I would get more than 1 review so this next chapter is a gift to you four. I did my best to make it a little longer and added more dialogue so I hope you guys like it.

* * *

On Monday morning you're running late to your first class. Sylvester had met with you earlier, demanding you devote _even _more time to the Cheerios. You love being on the Cheerios, you really do, it does ensure your popularity after all. Still the combination of the tiresome practices and having to deal with Sylvester and newbies on the team makes life more stressful than you would like. In an effort to get her off your back you switch out of your French class and into Spanish. You're already fluent so this class is just an easy A for you, and that's the way you like it.

As you breeze into the classroom and make your way over to the teacher's desk you can feel everyones eyes on you. Of course, how could they not be staring? You're _Santana Lopez,_ the hottest bitch this school has ever seen. "Santana Lopez. I just transferred into this class." You smile sweetly at the teacher. He looks back at you with an _I'm not impressed _expression on his face. "Please take a seat next to Miss Fabray." You're confused for a second. Quinn never mentioned being in this class. Then you turn around and realize "_Oh, it's Little Fabray._" You take your seat next to Dani who gives you a little wave in acknowledgement. The smile that comes to your face surprises you. You hadn't planned on doing that.

Towards the end of the class, the teacher tells everyone to begin taking notes on the vocabulary. You already know all this shit so you're not going to waste your time taking notes, instead you take the opportunity to study the blonde sitting next to you. Her blonde hair has been curled just a little, giving it a wavy appearance where it's gathered just below her shoulders. She has beautiful dark brown eyes that dart between the board and her paper as scribbles down the notes. You watch her purse her pink lips in concentration and wonder what it would feel like to kiss them. "_Woah, where did that come from?_" you wonder. As you glance back at her, you of course cant help but notice that she has quite possibly the cutest chin you've ever seen. You realize a second too late that she's caught you staring. "See something you like?" she whispers, a smug grin plastered on her face. You quickly turn away as you feel your cheeks heat up. _Am I blushing?_ You're _Santana freaking Lopez. _You don't blush. You make others blush.

You avoid looking at her for much of the remainder of class. You glance at the clock. _Just 10 more minutes._ The teacher clapping his hands together snaps you out of your daze. "Alright listen up. We're going to do a project-" Groans echo around the classroom. " Quit complaining. This is the easiest project you're going to get this year. You all are going to introduce each other to the rest of the class. Everyone pair up. Find out all the basics about your partner. Favorite color, favorite food, where they were born etc. Presentations will be Thursday. Please actually work on this with your partner and try not to wing it when it's your turn to present."

The teacher walks back to his desk and immediately the sound of chairs scraping on the floor fills the room as people get up to find their partners. A quick scan of the room tells you that you don't know anyone in here except Dani. You're determined not to get stuck with some loser freshman so you turn around to face Dani, only to find her staring back at you expectantly. "Sooo..." you start. "Let's be partners!" she says, grinning wildly at you. Her confidence surprises you but at the same time it's just another amazing quality you're starting to notice about her. You're about to open your mouth to respond when the bell rings and everyone scrambles to pack up their stuff. "Ugh, my next class is all the way on the other side of the school so I gotta run but you can just get my number from Quinn and you already know where I live so just come over today or tomorrow when you're ready to work on this." she says as she shoves her book into her bag. She shoots you one last smile before flying out the door leaving you stunned. You snap yourself out of it and quickly follow her out hurrying to your next class.

* * *

By the time you arrive at lunch you're starving. All of your other classes seemed to have gone 10 times slower now that you've experienced a class with Dani. You take your lunch over to your normal spot across from Quinn. You try to listen to what she's talking about but you find that your thoughts keep flitting back to Dani.

"Are you even listening to me?!" Quinn says, snapping her fingers in front of your face. "Of course I'm listening to you Q." " Then what did I just say?" she says, glaring at you. You decide that it's in your best interest to change the subject and avoid facing the wrath of Quinn. "Hey, can I get Dani's number?" "Why do you need her number?" Quinn replies, eyeing you suspiciously. _Uh oh. Maybe it would have been better to deal with angry Quinn. Wait, why am I even nervous? We're just working on a project together. That's it. It's completely innocent. _"We're working on a project together." you say as nonchalantly as possible."Since when are you guys even in the same class?" " I just transferred into her Spanish class. If you're finished with your interrogation can I get her number now?" Quinn rolls her eyes at you before writing the number down on a napkin and sliding it over to you.

"Hey isn't Dani in our lunch?" The suspicious look is back on Quinn's face. " She likes to eat outside." You don't reply to that. You spend the rest of lunch trying your best to focus on Quinn's conversation but you can't help but glance at the door leading to the courtyard outside every couple of minutes.

* * *

After Cheerios practice, you head back to your house to shower and change clothes. Aftereards, you grab your phone to text Dani.

_S: Hey, it's Santana. Do you want me to come over now to work on the project?_

_D: Sure, come on over :)_

You feel your heart flutter when you see the little smiley face at the end of the message._ Get it together Lopez. _You get into your car and drive over to the Fabray's. As you get out you do a quick check in your mirror to make sure you look alright._ What am I thinking? I always look good._ You knock on the door and Quinn answers with a surprised expression in her face. " San? What are you doing here?" " I came over to work on the project with Dani. Didn't she tell you I was coming?" "Q, are you going to stand at the door all day or are you going to let her in?" you hear Dani say. She comes to the door and nudges Quinn out of the way opening it wider. " Come on in." she beams at you.

After she shuts the door she grabs your hand and starts dragging you to the stairs. "We can go up to my room and-" " No way Dani." Quinn interjects. " But Quinnnnnn" Dani whines. " If I can't bring boys in my room when mom and dad aren't here then you can't bring girls in yours." "Boys like... Puck?" Dani says wiggling her eyebrows. Quinn gets a little red but you hardly notice, too distracted by the fact that Dani is still holding your hand. "I meant boys in general Dani. Just go work in the living room, okay?" "Fine, whatever." she drops your hand and walks into the living while you trail behind her.

You sit a reasonable distance away from her on the couch as she pulls out a notebook. "So Santana, tell me about yourself." she says with her ever present smile on her face. " What do you want to know?" "What's your favorite color?" "Red." For sone reason that makes her smirk. "What?" you ask a little self consciously. " I bet you look great in red." You can't help but blush for the second time that day. "What's your favorite color?" you ask. "Blue. Do you think I would look good in blue?" _There's that smirk again. This should be happening the other way around. _" I think you would look good in anything." you say, keeping your face as serious as possible. It's her turn to blush now as she smiles shyly and bites her lip, glancing back down at her paper.

You smile to yourself. It feels good to be the one making her blush. That is until you see Quinn towering above you from behind the couch. "Are you seriously flirting with my little sister?" "What?! No!" you reply instantly. "Quinn, be nice." Dani's smirk is back on her face once more as she watches your panicked expression. You shoot her a pleading look. She laughs before turning towards Quinn and climbing on the back of the couch. "Don't worry Q, I'd pick you over some hot Latina any day." She then jumps off of the back of the couch straight onto Quinn. Quinn wobbles for a second but Dani is only slightly smaller than Quinn and pretty soon they both go crashing to the floor. They stay there laughing on the floor for a minute before Dani joins you on the couch again and Quinn leaves the living room.

You already know that you're not going to get much done today. You're too distracted by Dani, by Quinn watching you, and too distracted by the fact that Dani called you hot.

* * *

**AN**: I hope you guys liked this chapter. Let me know if you want me to change or add anything in any future chapters. Constructive criticism and reviews as always would be very much appreciated. Thanks.


	3. Chapter 3

**AN**:** Hey guys, here's another chapter for you. I noticed that not a lot of Dantana stories had been updated recently so I figured I should write another chapter. I also want to thank everyone for all the follows and reviews(I read them all). **

**Toolazytologin: Thanks for the review, I was trying to portray Dani as confident because that's pretty much the only thing we have to go off of from the show and I wanted to stay true to the character. **

**Ale: I haven't necessarily paired Quinn with Puck yet. I'm not even sure if I'm giving her a boyfriend. I just put that in there do that if I did decide to, I would have some direction in the beginning. **

**Sorry this AN is so long but please read the one at the bottom too.**

* * *

Turns out you were right. You and Dani accomplished almost nothing by the time you left her house. Dani is too easily distracted by everything, and you, well you're too easily distracted by _her_. You know you shouldn't be happy with the fact that you haven't done anything but all you can seem to think is _I guess I'll just have to go see her again tomorrow_.

When you wake up the next morning you feel unusually happy. As you look through your closet you help but think _what would Dani like_? You don't know why you're thinking that. You and Dani don't even have remotely similar styles. Her clothes are all leather, band tees, ripped jeans, and pretty much anything badass. You on the other hand have dresses, and heels, and short skirts (at least on days when you don't have to wear your Cheerios uniform). _Dani looks good in anything though_. But who knows, maybe she already likes what you wear.

You finish getting dressed and head out, but being that you're still in a pretty good mood, you stop for coffee along the way. You know you'll be seeing Dani in your 1st class so you figure might as well get her some too. You don't know what she likes so you get her Quinn's usual. If she doesn't like it you can just give her yours.

You arrive at the classroom with a few minutes to spare and Dani is already there, same seat as yesterday. You take your seat next to her and slide the coffee on the desk. "Hey, I brought you some coffee." She looks up at you surprised . "Thanks. I thought you said you weren't a morning person?" she says with a grin as she accepts the cup. "I guess I'm just in a good mood today." you shrug. You watch as she takes a sip of the coffee and let's out a laugh. "What?" "You got me Quinn's order didn't you?" "Oh, umm... I –" " Its fine." she says with a chuckle. "We actually drink the same thing, I was just messing with you." You roll your eyes at her (at least you didn't blush). "Hey, what kind did you get?" She doesn't even wait for your response, she just grabs your cup (along with your hand that's still wrapped around it) and takes a sip before smiling and writing something in her notebook. "What did you just write?" "Favorite coffee: pumpkin spice. I'm making up for not being productive while working on the project yesterday." "Oh, yeah. Do you want me to come over again today?" "Sure. We can finish it today so we don't have to worry about it on Wednesday." You nod and then turn back to the front of the class as the bell rings and the teacher walks in.

The rest of the class period is fairly uneventful. The teacher puts on an "educational video", although you're pretty sure it's just a Spanish soap opera. You can't talk to Dani because the room is so quiet and eventually, along with 75% of the class, you end up falling asleep. You're woken up by Dani hitting you in the head with her folder. "Better get up before you're late!" You groan and rush out the door. Yeah, you're definitely not a morning person.

* * *

You're sitting next to Quinn at Cheerios practice when she asks, "Do you want to come over today and hang out?" You look at her with a sheepish smile, "I'm actually already coming over... to work on the project with Dani." She narrows her eyes at you. "You're ditching me to hang out with Dani?" "I'm not _technically _ditching you, I mean, we're still going to be in the same place. But I'll make it up to you. We'll finish the project today, and then I'll come over Wednesday and we can do a movie marathon." She sighs and rolls her eyes. "Fine. Pretty soon you'll end up living at my house permanently."

* * *

This time when you get to their house, you check the handle and it's already unlocked so you can walk right in. You set your stuff on the couch as Dani comes bounding down the stairs. "Ready to get to work?", she asks. " I am if you can stay on track today." "HaHa, very funny." she says. "Okay, so we can take turns asking each other the rest of the questions and then we can translate them into Spanish." "Ok, I'll go first." you reply.

"Do you get along with your sister?", you ask, grinning at her. She gets what you're doing and says, "No way. She's _super annoying_.", loud enough for Quinn to hear from the other room. "Shut up Dani!", she shouts back. You burst into giggles and then Dani says, "I'm just kidding. I love her and she's amazing." "That's what I thought!", Quinn yells.

"Where do you want to go after high school?", she asks. You haven't actually though about what you want to do after you graduate. "Um, I guess I'll go to college... Or maybe I'll move to New York. I can get out of Lima and I'm more of a city person anyway." "I've always wanted to go there too.", she says. "We can go together." She winks at you.

You ask your next question before she can see your reaction. "What do your parents do?" You already know the answer because of how long you've known Quinn, but you ask anyway. " My dad is a lawyer and my mom is a nurse, so they're almost never home. We always have the house to ourselves." "Wanky." you smirk. Hearing you, Quinn pokes her head back into the living room and gives you a glare. "What's wanky Santana?" "Uh, nothing Q." Dani just gives you a puzzled look and continues her list of questions.

You finally finish and start translating your answers into Spanish. You learn something new about Dani, she terrible at faking a Spanish accent. You do your best not to laugh at the adorable way she scrunches up her nose as she attempts to pronounce the words. After a lot of giggling and correction-making, you guys finally finish the project. You say your goodbyes and collapse on your bed as soon as you get home.

* * *

After school on Wednesday, you head to the Fabrays for the third day in a row that week._ Maybe Q was right. Pretty soon I'll be staying here permanently. _You walk in and see Quinn carrying a stack of DVDs to the living room. "Hey. Dani's not here yet." You give here a strange look. "I didn't even ask." "But you were about to." _Damn. She knows me too well. _

The two of you grab snacks and blankets and pile up together on the couch. It's nice to hang out together. It's only been about 2-3 days that you haven't hung out but it feels like forever.

After suffering through a few a Quinn's romantic comedies, you finally convince Quinn to let you pick one. Just as you hold up a new horror movie, the front door opens, and Dani walks in, with her guitar hanging across her back. "Hey guys, what's up?" "We were just about to watch another movie. Do you want to join us?" Quinn snorts from beside you. "Yeah, right. Dani's terrified of horror movies. She won't watch it." "No I'm not Quinn!" "Then come watch with us!" "Fine. Let me go put my guitar away."

Dani returns from her room wearing sweats and a t shirt and jumps over the back of the couch, settling down between you and Quinn. "Ok, I'm ready.", she says as she climbs underneath your blanket.

Quinn was evidently right about Dani being scared of the movie but she wasn't the only one. By an hour into the movie, Quinn had her face buried behind her unicorn pillow pet, only poking her head out every few seconds to see if anything scary was about to happen.

Dani was almost completely hidden under the blanket. You notice her peek out from under the blanket in the corner of your eye, as she stares at the screen, preparing for someone to pop out of some dark place.

Being the only one not scared of the movie gives you a little ego boost and with a random stroke of confidence, you reach underneath the blanket and intertwine your hand with Dani's. She looks up at you and smiles as you give her hand a comforting squeeze. Suddenly one of the characters in the movie screams, making Dani disappear back underneath the blanket, and put your hand in a death grip.

She stays like that for the remainder of the movie. When it finishes, you take out the DVD and glance back at the other two. Somehow, they've both fallen asleep, Dani with her head back against the couch and Quinn with her legs across Dani's lap. You know you should wake them up. You all have school tomorrow, but you're tired and they look so comfortable. Instead you go back to your spot, curl up next to Dani, and fall asleep with them.

* * *

**Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed this chapter. A few more things I'd like to say. 1) Thanks for all the follows/ reviews, please keep 'em coming 2) I have a plan for the next chapter but I'm writing them I go so it might be a couples of days before the next update 3) If you are planning to review, please let me know if you feel like the length of the chapters is too long/short/good 4) If you have any prompts for me to use in future chapters ( or maybe just prompts you think I could write in general), go ahead and pm me or message me on tumblr ( cynical-berries)**

**SOOO SORRY FOR THIS LONG NOTE.**


	4. Chapter 4

**AN:Hey everyone! I know some of you have been waitin for this so here it is. Thank you to the 3 people who reviewed the last chapter and wow, this story has over 50 followers! I also added a little protective Quinn since you guys seemed to like that. Thanks and I hope you like it.**

* * *

This is the second day in a row that you're woken up by being hit in the head. This time instead of Dani and her folder, it's Quinn and a pillow. "Ow, what the hell?" "Get up Santana! Do you know what time it is?" Quinn exclaims. You're still groggy and disoriented so you take a minute to gather your bearings. Quinn is still staring at you with a crazy look in her eye and Dani is curled into your side with her head on your chest. _Woah, when did that happen?_

"It's already 9:30 Santana!" Quinn's voice shakes Dani from her sleep. "Why are you being so loud?", she says, rubbing her eyes. "Because we were supposed to be at school almost 2 hours ago!" Quinn snaps. You and Dani both sit up a little straighter and glance at the clock. _Oops. I probably should have woken them up last night._

Dani, for the most part, seems pretty relaxed. "Oh well. I'll guess we can just skip." "You want to skip?!", Quinn asked, incredulous. "Why not? By the time we get there we would have already missed the first 2 periods." Dani replied. Her idea was sounding more and more appealing to you by the minute.

"I'm in.", you say, smiling at Dani. "We can't just not show up." You shrug. "Sure we can. If anyone asks we'll just say we ate something bad last night and got food poisoning." Quinn just groans and flops back down on the couch next to you and Dani.

Dani turns to her sister, brushing her hair out of her face. "Lighten up Q. You could use a day off anyway. So what do you guys want to do?" "There's not a whole lot to do in Lima. I guess we could go to the mall?", you say with a shrug.

The other two agree, and head upstairs to get dressed. You go with Quinn to borrow her clothes. "What should I wear?" Quinn gives you a look. "We're just going to the mall. Wear whatever you want."You grab a simple green striped dress and small heels.

You walk outside where Dani is waiting for you guys, wearing exactly what you'd imagine she'd wear, a brown leather jacket, ripped jeans, and knee high boots.

"Took you guys long enough." Quinn rolls her eyes and you smirk at the way Dani openly stares at your legs in the short dress.

20 minutes later, you arrive at what is quite possibly the lamest mall in the entire state. Quinn drags the two of you into the first clothing store she sees and you laugh, because even though you might like some of the stuff in here, you can't even picture Dani in any of these dresses or skirts.

A little while later Quinn has loaded both her and her sisters arms with all of the clothes she picked out. You picked out a few things for yourself and you follow them to the changing rooms. You and Quinn each go into one of the stalls as Dani dumps the rest of Quinn's stuff on the chairs outside and takes a seat.

You hear and the other two girls chatting about where they should go next but you don't pay too much attention. You pull on the last dress you brought in with you but have trouble reaching the zipper on the back. "Hey Q, you wanna give me a hand with this dress?" The curtain opens, but instead of Quinn, Dani walks in. "Quinn's still trying stuff on. I can help you." "Oh um, ok. Could you just zip up the back?"

"Sure.", she says, moving behind you. You try not to shiver when her hands brush against the bare skin on your back. "You ok?",she asks. "Uh y-yeah, your hands are just cold.", you lie. She zips it up and then takes a step back. "Soo... how does it look?" "Amazing." You can't help but blush when she says that._ Ugh, seriously? Blushing again?_ "Great then I think I'll get it." You turn around expecting her to leave but she's still standing there, almost in a daze. _Come on Lopez. Get it together. You should be making her nervous._ "Are you waiting for a strip tease or something?", you ask, raising your eyebrow and copying her signature smirk. "What? Oh, sorry! I'll just- umm, I'm going to get out now.", she says, closing the curtain behind her. You smile to youself as you take the dress off and go back outside.

Quinn pokes out the upper half of the body from her stall as you're getting out and holds out a pile of clothes. "Hey San, could you put this stuff back on the rack for me?" You take the pile from her and dump it on the chairs next to where you and Dani are sitting. "Yeah right. You can put it back yourself." Quinn just goes back in to try on more clothes. "How much stuff did she bring in there?", Dani asks from beside you. "No idea."

You turn to look at the pile of clothes next to you and a dress on top catches your eye. You grab it and hold it out towards Dani. "You should try this on.", you blurt out. "Why?",she says, eyeing the dress. "The other day you asked me if I thought you would look good in blue, so let's find out." She gives you another look but takes the dress anyway and goes into a stall.

A few minutes later, she comes out wearing the dress and that familiar smirk. "So, is blue my color or what?" _Wow._ You don't say anything but she looks fantastic. The dark blue of the dress contrasts perfectly with her lighter skin. It stops about mid thigh so it show's a little leg. The dress is pretty but simple, the perfect kind for her.

Quinn finally walks out of the changing room to see Dani in a dress and you still speechlessly staring at here. "Hey, that looks nice. It would look even better with one of your black leather jackets. Are you going to get it?" That pretty much seals the deal. "Yeah, I think I will." "Good. Here take this stuff.", Quinn said handing Dani some money and the things they wanted to buy. "We'll meet you at the entrance after we put the rest of it back.", she said, gesturing to the pile of clothes on the chair.

You watch Dani leave for the checkout and sigh as you grab half of the clothes from Quinn and follow her back to the racks. You finishing putting the clothes back and turn to leave but Quinn grabs your arm. "What's going on between you two?" You pull your arm back. "What are you talking about?" She give you an exasperated look. "Dani's being weird and you're somehow being flirty and awkward and at the same time." "Yeah right, how could I possibly be awkward?" "I'm not flirting either.", you add. "Really Santana? Because it seems like you are." Quinn let out a sigh. "Listen, just be careful ok? Don't lead her on for no reason." "Relax Q, there's nothing going on ok?" you say and head back to the entrance.

You find Dani waiting there impatiently, bags in hand. "What took you guys so long?" "Nothing.", you both mutter. "Well then lets get moving. I want to go to Guitar Center.", she says shoving your bags in your hands as Quinn groans.

Dani walks in like a kid in a candy store. She immediately rushes over to some guitars and you and Quinn begin walking around the store. You run your hands over some of the strings. "You ever play one of these before?"' you ask Quinn. "No, not really. Music is more Dani's thing." "Is she any good?" Quinn gives you a look. "Have you really never heard her play?" "No, why?" Quinn shrugs. "She's actually really good. She usually eats outside at school so she can practice playing. She sings too." You suddenly really want to hear Dani sing. Her voice already sounds beautiful when she talks, she probably sounds a hundred times better when she's singing.

Youre still walking around about an hour later when Quinn starts complaining and you get why. You've been through the whole store at least 3 times now. "I'll go see if Dani is ready to go now." "She better be ready or I'm leaving without her.", Quinn says.

You walk around and find Dani perched on a stool strumming an acoustic guitar. You recognize the song, Hey Soul Sister by Train, and you want to wait for her to start singing but you know Quinn is getting impatient. "Hey Dani, are you ready to go yet?" She jumps and turns around."Oh yeah, sorry. I got distracted.", she smiles sheepishly. "Let's go."

You guys walk around the mall for a little while longer before stopping for frozen yogurt in one of the shops. You grab cups and go to choose your flavors. Quinn immediately begins filling her cup while Dani stares at the menu. "Feeling indecisive D?" Quinn jokes. "There's too many flavors! How am I just supposed to pick a few?" "You can have some of mine if you want. We could get different flavors.", you offer. "Great idea San!" Quinn shoots you a warning look but you ignore her. _She called me San._ You don't know why, but you really like the way that sounds when she says it.

You all finish filling your cups and go to stand in the checkout line, which is surprisingly busy. "Here, give me your cups an go get us a table before they're all gone.", Quinn says. You and Dani find an empty table in the corner and sit down. "Today was fun. I feel like I just went on a 3 person date.", she laughs. "Well then maybe we should go on a real date.", you mumble, not expecting her to hear. She gasps. "Santana Lopez! Are you asking me out?" "What?! No! I just– I was– it was a joke!" You can feel your face getting red again. "Well, that's too bad. I would've said yes.", she says and then winks at you before getting up to help Quinn carry the stuff back.

You guys leave shortly afterwards. You go back to their house and say goodbye, before getting in your car and driving home. That last conversation with Dani stays in your head all night and you can barely sleep._ Does that mean she wants me to ask her out? Ugh, but I promised Quinn that nothing was going on! Is anything going on? I don't even know if she was being serious. _The only thing you know for sure is that you're pretty much screwed either way.

* * *

**AN: I hope you guys like it! I have a plan for chapter 5, and it involves a slightly jealous Santana. I would like to get to at least 25 reviews before I post chapter 5. If not, it might be at least a week. More reviews = faster chapters. I actually hadn't even planned on writing this today until someone on tumblr asked about it. **

**Anyway please review and let me know if there is anything you would like to see in upcoming chapters. Thanks everyone.**

**AN2: I had planned to update this like 4 hours ago but the website was having problems.**


	5. Chapter 5

**AN: Thanks for all the reviews! Here's chapter 5. I have mixed feelings about this because I don't feel like it was my best so let me know wht you think.**

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You wake up exhausted on Friday morning, your internal debate over whether or not Dani was serious having kept you up. You rush to get ready and get to school with a few minutes to spare. Dani gets there at the same time, but unlike you, she looks as cheery as she always is.

"Hey, Santana.", she says as she walks next to you down the hallway. "You look terrible." You shoot her a glare. "Thanks. That's what every person wants to hear this early in the morning. I just didn't sleep very well last night."

"Then I guess this is a bad time to remind you that we're probably going to have to present that project today." You groan. You had completely forgotten about that. "Don't worry San, it'll be easy and we'll be done with it after today." You're happy to get this project over with but you can't help but be a little dissapointed that you wont have any excuse to see Dani.

You both walk in and take your seats next to each other. You notice someone new siting in front of Dani but before you can mention it the teacher walks in. "Miss Fabray, Miss Lopez, how nice of you to join us today.", he says sarcastically. ""Since you were both conviently absent yesterday, why don't you come on up to the front of the room and present your project." You roll your eyes and follow Dani to the front of the room.

As Dani predicted, the presentation is really easy. You're surprised at how her pronunciation has improved. She must have practiced after she got home yesterday. The two have you must have done better than everyone else did yesterday because the whole class claps when you finish and the teacher looks impressed. "Nice job. You two may take a seat." You and Dani take your seats as the teacher continues. "Next we're going to be doing some worksheets in groups of threes. Santana and Dani, why don't you work with our new student since you're the only ones who haven't been acquainted.", he says, gesturing to the girl in front of Dani.

Everyone gets up to get in their groups and the girl turns around. She has long light brown hair, and green eyes. She light skinned with a few freckles scattered across her face and she just a little bit shorter than Dani. "Hi, I'm Ashley.", she says, smiling brightly at Dani. You already don't like her. "Hi. As I'm sure you already figured out, I'm Dani and this is Santana." She smiles at you while you just glare back. "Ignore her if she seems like she's in a bad mood. She just didn't sleep well. Normally she's super friendly.", Dani says winking at you. That wink somehow magically lifts your spirits a little.

"So did you just move here?", Dani asks. "Yeah, we just moved her from Virginia." "Why would you want to move here?" you blurt out. "My dad got a job offer and I only have less than two years of highschool left anyway." "You're a junior?", you ask. "Yeah." "That's cool. Santana's a junior too. Maybe you guys will have some classes together.", Dani says brightly. Neither of you look too happy about that possibility. "We should probably get started on this worksheet.", you say. "Oh, don't worry. It shouldn't be too hard. I'm already fluent.", she says, looking at Dani. _Show off._ "So am I." Dani remains oblivious to the tension between you two. "Great, then we should be finished in no time."

The three of you do finish quickly, mostly due to the fact that you and Ashley were both trying to get the answers faster than each other, while Dani just tried to keep up and write it all down. You don't even realize that class is almost over until everyone begins packing up their things. For once you're actually glad to leave this class but before you do, you notice Ashley walk up to Dani. "Hey Dani, I was wondering if I could get your number?" You don't know why but you feel a sudden flash of jealousy pass through you. Dani writes down her number and hands it to Ashley as the bell rings and just like always she goes flying out the door. "Bye Santana! Bye Ashley!"

* * *

When you and Quinn get out of the lunch line, you look around for a place to sit. "Hey, why don't we eat outside today?" Quinn gives you that suspicious glare that seems to be occurring more and more often. "Why?" "I don't know.. It's a nice day outside and it's crowded in here." Quinn still seems skeptical. "Fine, whatever lets just find a table in here.

You manage to forget about your problems for the majority of lunch but as always, your thoughts begin to drift to Dani again. _Why would she give her number to someone she just met?_ "Santana, you've been staring into space for like five minutes. What are you thinking about?", Quinn asks. "Just this bitch in my Spanish class." She raise an eyebrow at you. "Anyone I know?" "Doubt it. She just moved here like yesterday."

"So what did she do to make you hate her so much?" Luckily the bell rings before you have to answer her. "Don't forget to come over today so we can work on cheer routines!" ,she calls out as you leave the cafeteria.

* * *

You're actually happy that Quinn invited you over to plan new routines. It might help you take your mind off of Dani, even if she is going to be in the same house. You walk right in and see Quinn sitting at the counter with a magazine. "Hey San. You hungry?" "A little bit." "Ok, well I put a pizza in the oven and it should be done right now. I'll go check and then we can go to my room and make some new routines." Once Quinn goes into the kitchen, the doorbell rings. "Hey San could you get that?" You pull open the door and try not to let the surprise show on your face when you see Ashley standing there.

She seems just as surprised to see you. "Oh, hey Santana. Um, what are you doing here?" You narrow your eyes at her. "I'm here all the time. Why are _you_ here?" "Uh, Dani invited me over."

Quinn pokes her head out from behind you. "Um, who are you?" You're still blocking the path in front of the door while you wait for her response. "Um, I'm Dani's friend, Ashley." Her answer seems to be enough for Quinn, who pushes you out of the way. "Come on in. Dani, your friend is here!",Quinn calls out. Dani comes running down the stairs. "Hey, Ash!" _Ash? She already has a nickname for her? _"So how come I've never met you before?", Quinn asks. "Oh, I just moved here a few days ago." "She's in Spanish with me and Santana.",Dani adds. A look of realization appears on Quinn's face and you know she is remebering what you said at lunch.

"So what exactly are you guys doing anyway.", you ask. "We're going to help each other with homework.",Dani says. You can't help but feel a little offended at that. "Why didn't you just ask me?" "We're actually working on math. Ash is in my geometry class. You scoff a little at that. "Isn't that a sophomore course?" Dani shoots you a glare and Quinn rolls her eyes. "Math just isn't my forte I guess. That's why I asked Dani to help me." "We should probably go get started.",Dani says heading upstairs.

Quinn turns to you with an amused smile. "So that's the bitch from your Spanish class, huh?" "She's just acting fake nice because she's here.",you mumble.

"I don't know whether to laugh at how jealous you are or be mad because you're still going after my sister." "I'm not jealous!" "And I'm not going after her either!", you make sure to add. "Just admit it Santana. I promise I won't kill you." You let out a deep sigh. "Fine. I may possibly have a very teeny tiny crush on your sister. Are you happy now Q?" "Absolutley.", she says with a smirk.

"Hey, wait a minute, I thought Dani couldn't bring girls into her room." "Oh yeah, we worked that out. We decided that she could bring any girls into her room and I could bring any boy into my room and neither of us wil say anything to our parents."

"And you couldn't have decided this before when I can over to do the project?",you ask. "Yeah right San. You're still not allowed in there. You're a player." "Excuse me?!" "I was just kidding S, you're allowed in Dani's room now, assuming she actually wants to let you in." "Why wouldn't she?" "She didn't seem all too happy about laughing at her new friend.", Quinn responds.

"Ugh what do you think they're doing in their anyway?" "I don't know, homework maybe?" "Whatever lets just figure out some new routines."

You and Quinn finish up a few hours later, your thoughts still running wild as you get ready to leave. _Does Dani like this new girl? I'm pretty sure she likes Dani. Maybe I should ask her out before its too late._

You say goodbye to Quinn and go downstairs. When you get to the bottom of the stairs you overhear Ashley talking on her phone. "...yeah I really like her... I think I'm going to ask her out..."

_Uh oh. I might already be too late._

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**AN: Thanks for reading. Let me know what you think. This story may or may not be taking an angsty turn. I want to bring back bitchy Santana instead of shy Santana for a while. Review goal for the next chapter is 35-40! Let me know if there's anything you'd like to see :)**


	6. Chapter 6

**AN: Wow 43 reviews! Thanks so much everyone! I am sooo sorry it took me so long to update. I wrote about half of the chapter before I got writers block so this took way longer than I intended. I'm going to try to write the next one faster but I might be planning on starting another fic soon so I'm not sure how long it will take. Anyway, you're probably not reading this so I'll just let you start reading the chapter.**

**Warning: ANGST**

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You spend most of next week trying to ignore Dani. When she cheerfully greets you in the morning you mumble back a hello and avoid conversation. You don't partner up with her in class and instead she works with Ashley. You're not even sure if they're together yet._ Its not like anything was going to happen between us anyway._ By Thursday, Dani doesn't even bother trying to say hello. You haven't gone over to Quinn's, she just comes over to your place instead.

Quinn try's to talk to you about it, and she almost makes you feel guilty about it too. "What's happening with you and Dani?" "Nothing is happening.", you mutter. "Really? Because she said that you won't talk to her anymore and she keeps asking me if she did something to make you mad!", Quinn snaps. You feel your heart break a little when you hear that. You're not trying to hurt her but she wants to be with Ashley and you don't want to stand in the way. If you keep spending time with her, you're the one who's going to get hurt. "It's complicated...",you sigh. "Then explain it." "This may be slightly more than just a little crush, Q. I don't want to keep being around her when I know nothing is going to come from it." "But how do you know that?", Quinn asks. "Because I'm pretty sure she and Ashley are going to be dating soon." Quinn gives you a dissapointed look, but doesn't say anything else.

You manage to avoid Dani for the most part but at the same time, it makes you irritated that you're not talking to her. It makes you even more irritated that she's talking to that dumb bitch, Ashley. You know that's probably your fault. They wouldn't be spending so much time together if you weren't ignoring Dani so much. You don't care though, and you find yourself going back to your normal bitchy self.

You don't even realize that you're doing it until a freshman in your history class sits in your seat. He's obviously the nerdy type, with thick glasses, curly hair, and pale skin. What right does he have to sit in _your _seat?

"Hey idiot, you're in my seat." He puts down the huge book he was reading and looks up at you. You can see how nervous he becomes when he recognizes you as one of the Cheerios. "W-what?" "I said you're in my seat. Are you deaf or just stupid?", you sneer at him. "I-I um..." "Get up before I go all Lima Heights on your ass!" you snap. The kid scrambles to pick up his stuff and quickly moves to another seat. The seniors and juniors laugh while the few sophomores in the room give him sympathetic looks. You don't care. It feels good to be in charge again.

Everyone sees the change in you. Maybe it's because you're even more of a bitch than you were before you noticed Dani. Still you can't help but enjoy their reactions to it. They begin to make a path for you when they see you strutting down the hallway. They let you and Quinn in front of them in the lunch line. They even let you copy their homework, no questions asked. Unfortunately, Dani also sees the change in you, and unlike everyone else, she's willing to call you out on it.

You're in Spanish,doing more of the partner work that your teacher seems to be so fond of. Since you won't work with Dani, you're stuck with some loser underclassman who can barely speak proper English, let alone Spanish. You have to constantly correct him to the point where it's becoming ridiculous. "This is the last time I'm going to say this! The double L makes the same sound as Y you moron!" "Uh, are you sure?",he asks, a dumb look on his face. "Yes I'm sure! How did you even make it past 4th grade?!"

"That's enough Santana!" You whip around at the sound of Dani's voice. "Excuse me?" The whole class has stopped what they're doing upon hearing Dani's outburst. "What makes you think you can go around treating people like that? Because you a junior? Because you're on the Cheerios? Because you're popular? Which is it?!" You're too stunned to answer her. You've never seen her this angry. You're not sure if you've ever seen her angry at all now that you think about it. "I don't know what the hell has been going on with you recently but there's no excuse to act the way you do." For a second you want to snap back at her, shout, or reply with some sarcastic insult but you stop yourself. The whole point of you staying away from Dani was so that neither of you get hurt. You can't bring yourself to say anything to her so you just grab all your things and angrily walk out the door. You hear it slam on your way out but you don't even flinch.

You get to the student parking and take a deep breath as you sit in your car. You don't even know why you're angry or who you're angry at. You know that you're not really mad at Dani. She was right to say everything she did but that doesn't mean you liked hearing it. You sigh as you start to feel a headache coming on. There's no way you're staying at school today. You start the car and drive back to your house. As soon as you get iniside you swallow two Advils and lay down on your bed.

* * *

You wake up hours later to your phone buzzing. You glance at the screen. _5:32. How did I sleep for that long? _You have multiple messages from Quinn.

Q: How come you weren't at lunch?

Q: Are you coming to practice?

Q: Did you skip today?

The most recent text is the one that woke you up.

Q: Come over. I need to talk to you. Don't worry, Dani isn't here.

Judging by the last part of the message you assume that Dani told her what happened in class that morning. You know that Quinn's not going to stop bugging you until you talk to her so you begrudgingly get out of bed and drive to her house.

The door is unlocked and you call her name as you shut it behind you. "Quinn? You here?" She comes out of the kitchen wearing an expression you can't quite place. "Hey San." "Why are you acting like you're surprised to see me?"

Before she can respond, you hear someone jogging down the stairs. "Hey Q, who was that at the–" Dani's stops talking when she sees you standing there. The two of you just stare at each other for a minute. You feel like you're in one of those cheesy western movies, waiting to see who's going to shoot first.

She doesn't say anything so you turn around to glare at Quinn with the most intimidating look you can manage. Quinn merely shrugs at you in return. "You two obviously have some problems you need to work out so if you need me, I'll be up in my room." She retreats upstairs to her bedroom leaving you and Dani in a room full of silence. You think you finally understand the expression "tension you could cut through with a knife".

The silence is becoming unbearable but you don't know where to start. "So... I guess you didn't know I was coming?" She continues glaring at you and just when you wonder if she's going to say anything she replies, "Well you've kind of been ignoring me all week so I wasn't exactly expecting you to drop by to say hello." "Yeah...um, Quinn said you weren't home." You want to slap yourself as soon as the words leave your mouth. _Way to go moron, just admit that you've been avoiding her._

You only feel worse when you see the hurt flash in her eyes. "Well then I guess you can leave now." One part of you wants to take the opportunity to bolt out the front door but another part of you is reluctant to leave. "But...um... don't you want to... sort things out?"

You can't help but flinch when she lets out a harsh laugh. "Sort things out? How are we supposed to sort things out when you won't even tell me what I did to make you ignore me all week." Your response is immediate. "You didn't do anything." "Great, so I guess you just didn't want to be around me anymore, right?",she says sarcastically.

For some reason her tone infuriates you and before you can stop yourself, you spit out the first thing that comes to mind. "It's not like you have time for me anyway! You're too busy with Ashley! It's not like you even want to be near me either. You made that perfectly clear this morning when you pointed out what a terrible person I am! I just don't know why you're getting so pissd about it now! I've always been like this!"

She lets out another laugh, this one sounding more bitter than harsh. " You think I didn't know that before we became friends? I always knew you were sarcastic and that you didn't take shit from anybody. That was one of the things I liked about you but you never used to put other people down just for the fun of it!

She doesn't even stop to let you ask about the last part. " What does Ashley have to do with any of this anyway? Why does it matter if I like to spend time with her?" Just hearing her say Ashley's name makes you mad again. "I already know she asked you out. I didn't want to get in the way of you and your new _girlfriend_!", you say bitterly.

Dani looks shocked for a second before glaring at you once more. "She's not my girlfriend Santana. I don't know who told you she asked me out but for your information, I said no."

You definitely weren't expecting that. In an instant all the anger drains from your voice to be replaced by confusion. "You said no? Why? I thought you liked her."

"I like her as a friend! I said no because I was interested in someone else!"

You can't stop the jealousy from seeping into your voice. "Who?"

"I had feelings for you, idiot!", Dani shouts letting out all her anger. You stare at her dumbfounded. "You had feelings for...me?", you whisper. She just glares at you as you try to figure out what to say. Do you tell her how you feel? Should you apologize?

"Dani, I had no idea."

She stares at you with an expression so cold you almost want to shiver. "Just get out."

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**AN: Hope you liked this chapter! I know I kind of left it on a very angsty cliffhanger. Sorry!**

**As usual, please review and let me know if there's anything you would like to see. Review goal for the next chapter is 50. 50th reviewer gets a shout out!**


	7. Chapter 7

**AN: Thanks for all the reviews! I made it to 56! I'm sorry this took so long. I've come to the conclusion that the only time I'm capable of writing is between 11pm - 4am which really sucks. Anyway I need to go to sleep so I hope you enjoy this chapter.**

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_Just_ get_ out._ Her words echo in your mind as you lay in bed. You've been replaying the conversation over and over in your head since you got home. Maybe you should have stayed. Explained to her why you were avoiding her, but when you saw the way she looked at you, you had to leave. You couldn't face her when her eyes were so full of anger and disappointment. You considered texting her when you got home but you decided against it. You'd give her some time to cool off and then talk to her tomorrow.

There'a still a little part of you that can't help but be happy that Dani likes you. _Liked_ you. You know that you might have ruined any chances you had being with her. You just hope that you can sort it all out at school tomorrow.

You wake up Friday morning dreading the conversation you know that you need to have. Thoughts are running wild in your head as you drive to school._ Should I stop and get some coffee as a peace offering? No, that's dumb. A stupid latte isn't going to make up for anything I said. _

You arrive in your Spanish class and take your normal seat. Dani isn't there yet which is strange because she normally arrives before you. You saw Quinn on your way to your locker so Dani should already be at school... unless she skipped to avoid you.

A few second before the bell rings, Dani walks in quickly taking a seat. That leaves you with no time to try to talk to her. You're pretty sure that world is working against you because the day when you want to talk to Dani happens to be the same day when your stupid teacher decides to have everyone work alone for a change. The room is dead silent so you obviously can't start a conversation without everyone overhearing. You work quietly until the end of class, stealing glances at Dani every few minutes. When the bell rings at the end of the period, Dani waves a quick goodbye to Ashley and speed walks out the door without so much as backwards glance at you.

_I guess the tables have turned. She's ignoring me._ It makes you feel like shit and for a split second you want to be annoyed or hurt but then you remeber that you did the exact same thing to her most of last week. You can barely handle it for 1 period, let alone consider her freezing you out for an entire week or longer.

At lunch you don't even see her walk into the cafeteria and you sigh knowing you'll have to wait until tomorrow to talk to her. You could go over to her place tonight but you don't want to have this conversation near Quinn, and you don't want to risk being thrown out again before you can tell her everything you need to say.

1st period the next day feels like déjà vu. Dani once again ignores you, the teacher once again assigns individual work. You can only hope that she'll actually show up to lunch today.

Evidently you seem to have been gifted with some good luck for a change. You see Dani walk through the cafeteria on her way to the courtyard to go eat outside. She's hard to miss with her acoustic guitar across her back as she weaves through crowds of high schoolers.

You get out of the lunch line and tell Quinn that you're going to eat outside. You don't have to explain, she already knows why you're going there. You make your way to the double door leading outside, pushing against them with your shoulder as you balance carrying both your backpack and lunch.

Dani is sitting as one of the red tables, on the hard metal bench, her back facing you. Her guitar is in her lap and she's strumming some unfamiliar tune. Even though you don't recognize it, you can't help but admire the skill she has as her fingers brush against the strings. It sounds beautiful and you want to keep standing there, like a fly on the wall, in hopes that you can hear her sing. It reminds you of that day at the mall watching her play in the guitar store and just like before you know you have to interrupt before you can hear her voice. You still need to talk to her and you can't do that if you're silently creeping behind her the whole time.

You walk around to the other side of the table, setting your things down and sitting on the uncomfortable bench. She stops playing when she sees you sit down and looks at you blankly. You can't tell if she's angry, annoyed, or just confused as to why you're there.

Once again, you're not sure where to start. "Um... I was hoping we could talk."

For a minute she doesn't say anything. You don't know if it's a good thing or a bad thing. You want to say something to break the silence but you have to give her a chance to say something first. "Why should I talk to you?"

"Because I was hoping to apologize, and I thought maybe you would consider hearing me out?", you say tentatively. "Fine, I'm listening.", she says stiffly.

"I just... I need to apologize for ignoring you last week. I was sort of jealous about how close you seemed with Ashley. I wasn't trying to hurt you, I promise! I didn't know you liked me too. I thought I could spare both our feelings if I let you and Ashley be together and I could just stay out of your way."

You can see Dani's internal conflict in her eyes. You let your hopes get up for a second. Maybe she is going to forgive you?

Suddenly the glare is back. "You could have told me all this before. You could have been honest. I asked you how you were doing every day and you just chose to avoid me. Then you had the nerve to tell me that I was somehow ignoring you by hanging out with Ashley?"

You try not to flinch at the way her voice rises. She does have a right to be mad at you. "I know. You're right and I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking straight when I said that. You know I'm not always the most levelheaded. I was just trying to take the blame off of myself. I really am sorry Dani."

She looks as if she's contemplating what you said before letting out a sigh. "I can't do this right now Santana. Just give some space to think things over, okay?"

You quickly nod along. This means she's considering your apology, right? "Sure, whatever you need."

She stands up, grabbing her guitar and going back inside, leaving you alone at the small table. You look down at your untouched lunch. You're not very hungry anymore.

You're distracted for the rest of the day including Cheerios practice. You mess up routines and the other cheerleaders keep giving you looks. The only reason you get cut any slack is because of Quinn but even she keep looking at you strangely. You eagerly hurry home after practice and take a hot shower to get your mind off of things. You stay in there until the water gets cold and then go and get dressed. Just as you finish changing you hear a knock at the front door. Could it be Dani?

You race down the stairs practically tripping all the way down and fling the door open. You can't help the fact that your expressions drops a bit when you realize it's Quinn instead of Dani. That doesn't go unnoticed by Quinn who raises an eyebrow at you and pushes past you to get inside. "Well don't be too excited to see me.", she says sarcastically.

"Sorry Q.", you say, shutting the door behind her. She jogs up the stairs to your room and you sigh already knowing why she's here. The two of you flop down on the bed, laying side by side. "So... how did it go?"

"I'm not sure if I made things better or worse.", you say with a sigh. "What do you mean?"

"I told her why I was acting like that and I apologized so maybe she'll forgive me but if she doesn't that means I just permanently screwed everything up."

"So what are you going to do?",she asks. "Isn't this the part where you're supposed to offer me some useful best friend advice?"

"I don't know... you were pretty persistent in ignoring her last week. Maybe you should be persistent in showing her that you're actually sorry."

"But she wants space. How do I do that without physically bothering her?",you ask. "I don't know. I'm sure you can figure something out."

* * *

You think about what Quinn said for the rest of the night. You do need to figure something out and you decide the only thing left to do is try the old fashioned way: flowers and locker notes.

You go online to order some flowers and have them sent to Dani. You spend an unrealistically long time trying to pick which flowers to send. You didn't realize something this simple could be so stressful. You could go with classic roses but those are typically for people who are already in relationships and Dani's not exactly a very typical girl. Lillie's and tulips seem too plain but then you remember Dani mentioning her favorite color was blue. You may not know her favorite flower but this is better than nothing. You look through the selection of flowers before settling on some blue carnations.

You start to write the note but feelings aren't exactly your forte. You decide to start this one off simple. Admit you were wrong, apologize, offer to make it up to her.

In the morning you get to school early enough to slip the note in her locker before waiting in Spanish. Dani once again walks in as the bell rings without sparing you a glance. You're not sure if the flowers have been delivered yet but you see a little square of paper sticking out of Dani's left pocket. Its the one you wrote on, so even if she's ignoring you, at least you know she didn't throw it away.

You repeat the process again that night. You send more flowers and write one more note. The next morning is relatively the same. She doesn't look at you, but there's another note sticking out of her pocket.

You continue throughout the week. She finally seems to be close to forgiving you. She acknowledges you when she comes into the class . She waves goodbye and begins to make conversation during breaks in the lesson.

You don't stop sending flowers or writing the notes.

_Dear Dani,_

_To be honest, I'm kind of running out of things to say on these so this one is going to be short and sweet. _

_I know I screwed up and you're mad at me. You have a right to be. You asked for space and I'm giving it to you but I can't stop trying to make it up to you._

_I like you too much to give up. How could I not? You're pretty much the most gorgeous, smart, badass girl I know._

_Please just give me a chance to prove it to you._

_-S_

The day after you put that note in her locker she comes into class with a blue flower in her hair and waves at you on her way in, giving you one of those smiles that you missed seeing.

When you're shutting your locker later that day, you nearly jump back in surprise when you see Dani standing there behind it.

"Y'know, I'm running out of space in my house for all these flowers.", she says simply. You're nervous for a second before you see the corners of her mouth turn up in a smile. "So um...does that mean?" "That I forgive you? Yeah it does. To be honest, I kind of blew this whole thing out of proportion. I just really didn't like you ignoring me.", she says sheepishly.

"Well in that case... doyouthinkicouldtakeyououtsometime?" You say it so fast you can barely understand yourself. "What?" "I said... Do you think I could take you out sometime?"

Dani gives you one of those huge grins and wraps her arms around you. "I would love that."

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**AN: I hope you enjoyed this chapter. A little bit of fluff at the end.**

**As always please review and let me know if there is anything you would like to see in the next chapters.**

**Review goal for the next chapter: 65**


	8. Chapter 8

**AN: Hey everyone! Sorry this took me so long to update! Almost an entire month. To make up for taking so long, I made this chapter like 1,000 words for all the reviews! I wasn't expecting to get to 75, let alone 83!**

**I'd like to give shout outs to my 50th reviewer SmilerLovaticGleek (I forgot to put it in the last chapter), and my 75th reviewer Marymoli.  
**

**I was feelin a bit iffy about this chapter so please let me know what you think.**

* * *

"So... are you two like... a thing now? Santana? Santana!" "What?!" You snap out of the daze you were just in. You and Quinn are lying on the bed in your room after school, talking. Well, Quinn was talking, you were just daydreaming about taking Dani out on a date. "I said are you an item now?" You have to think for a second. _Are we an item? She agreed to a date but that doesn't make us official. _" I don't know. I mean I guess we sort of are. I'm not sure how slow she wants to take things."

"You better take it slow. She's only been in like 1 serious relationship before." "Really? With who?" You've had few relationships too, never anything too serious though. "I don't really remember. You'll have to ask her about it."

"We're going out this weekend..." Quinn turns to face you. "Really? Where are you going?" "I don't actually know yet. Where should I take her? What kind of stuff does she like?" Quinn furrows her brow. " Uhh, I don't know... coffee, guitars... board games..." "Wow so helpful Q."

"Whatever, I'm not planning your date for you. Why are we still talking about this anyway? We need to finish this stupid physics homework."

* * *

You get to school early the next morning, excited to see Dani. You have to make a quick stop at your locker and you're surprised to find Dani already standing there. "Hey, you're here early." You're not really sure what to do. Should you hug or give her a kiss? You haven't even gone on your date yet so you don't really not what seems acceptable.

Luckily Dani solves that problem for you. She leans forward on her toes and gives you a peck on the cheek. "I know, I just wanted to see you before class started." she says with a shy smile. You grin back at her as you gather your books from your locker. "So you wanna walk to class together?" "Yep." The two of you walk side by side down the hallway. You wan to hold her hand but you're slightly nervous so instead you subtley bump your hand against hers as you walk. She grabs your hand and intertwines your fingers and you shoot her a smile.

"So do you want to hang out after school today?" "Oh, I'd love to but I'm actually meeting some friends today." You try not to sound too disappointed. "Oh, ok.""Hey, why don't you come with me? I can introduce you to them." For some reason the idea of meeting Dani's friends intimidates you. "Um, maybe some other time."

Dani smirks at you. "Are you nervous?" You scoff at that despite it being a little true. "Pshhh, yeah right. Santana Lopez doesn't get nervous." "Great! Then you can come meet them today. They're all really nice, I promise!" She looks so excited, you have to say yes. "I guess I could come over after practice today..." "Yay! I'll text you where to meet us." Dani gives you a big grin and puts a little bounce in her step. You might not be thrilled to meet her friends but if it makes her this happy, then you don't really mind doing it.

The two of you turn down the main hallway which is far more crowded than the last one. Everyone turns to look at the two of you as you walk hand in hand towards the Spanish classroom. "Um, San why is everyone staring at us?", Dani whispers to you. "Have you seen us? We're the two hottest people in this school, of course they're staring." While that may actually be true you know that they're probably staring for a different reason. You're popular, a cheerleader with a reputation for being a little unfavorable towards those below you. Dani is the opposite, with her small group of friends and known for being sweet yet badass. The two of you aren't meant to be together but you are and it works.

* * *

At lunch, you're not sure where to sit. You always sit with Quinn but maybe Dani wants you to sit with her? You glance over at the door and Quinn stops you. "Oh hell no, I am not becoming the third wheel already." "What?"

"You're going to see her later anyway. I'm sure you can handle being apart for a few hours." You roll your eyes but follow her to your usual table. "Hey, do you know anything about Dani's friends? She wants me to meet them today."

"Uh, not really. Her friends are kind of weird. I usually stay in my room when they come over."

"So I'm going to be stuck with a bunch of freaks?" Quinn rolls her eyes, "Stop being so dramatic. They're not that bad. Her best friend Elliot is pretty normal. I don't know much about the rest of them though."

* * *

_Come on, I can do_ this. You're standing outside of the pizza place where Dani texted you to meet her and her friends. You push open the doors, inhaling the smell of pizza dough. You scan the the room in search of Dani. She sees you and jumps up from the table and starts toward you, a black haired boy following behind her.

"Hey Santana!" She wraps her arms around your waist which helps you calm down a little. "This is my best friend Elliot Gilbert. Elliot, this is Santana."

Elliot smiles and extends his hand to you. "Nice to meet you." Elliot is dressed similarly to Dani. Black leather, jeans, and combat boots. You're not sure but he might even be wearing a bit of eyeliner. "You too."

"Ok,follow me. I'll introduce you to everyone else.", Dani says, grabbing your hand and pulling you through a maze of tables.

"Hey everybody, this is Santana. Santana this is Kurt, Rachel, Artie, and Mercedes." You feel like you're hanging out with the geek squad. Rachel is giving you dirty looks and you're pretty sure you might have slushied her once or twice back when she was a freshman. _Well this is off to a great start._ Lucky for you the rest of them seem friendly enough and Dani is clearly excited to show you off to her friends so you smile back at them and take a seat.

Its not nearly as bad as you expected it to be. Despite Kurt being such a stereotypical gay, being around him is bearable. Elliot and Mercedes are actually pretty cool and you can see why Dani is friends with them. Rachel on the other hand has quite possibly the biggest ego you've ever seen and you suddenly remeber why you might have slushied her a year ago. Still they're Dani's friends so if you have to put up with them for a few hours to make her happy, then so be it.

Everyone finishes eating and you're eager to leave but then Artie speaks up. "Hey guys, we should go to the arcade before we leave." You look up not having realized there was even an arcade in this place. "Yeah, let's go!" Dani pipes up from beside you. Kurt and Mercedes groan but get up to follow them. Elliot leans toward you. "Whatever you do, don't give Dani any money for the arcade." You give him a puzzled look. "What? Why?" Mercedes spins around to look at you. "Because then she'll spend it all on that dumb claw machine.", she laughs. "No, I won't!",Dani huffs and crosses her arms.

Evidently Mercedes was right because Dani spends almost 15 minutes trying to get one little bear out of the machine.

"Dani are you almost finished yet?"

"Hang on Elliot, I almost got it. Ugh, Santana did you see that? I had it in the claw and then it fell!"

"Yeah I saw. You know this game is rigged to make you lose right?"

"Yeah but look, it's much closer now! Dammit! I almost had it that time."

"Seriously I don't think you're going to get it. Stop spending all your money."

"Chill Elliot, I just need one more try."

Dani lets out a groan as the little bear once again falls out of the claw's grasp. "This is ridiculous."

"Here, let me try." She slides over to make room for you while you pop a few quarters into the machine. "Which one did you want?" She points at the little dark brown bear holding a miniature guitar. You hit the start button and position the class just over it's head and wait for it to drop. The bear wobbles in the claw at first but you give a little noise of triumph as it falls into the prize slot. Dani turns to you with an incredulous look on her face. "How did you do that?!"

You shrug and offer her the bear with a smile. "You're the best San!", she says giggling and wrapping her arms around your waist. Elliot fake gags and Rachel speaks up from behind the two of you. "Well guys this has been fun but I have to go practice my singing for when I'm on Broadway. Let's do this again sometime!" You say your goodbyes to Dani's friends but Elliot hangs back to chat with you.

"So... you guys have your date this weekend... picked a place yet?" "I have an idea where to take her... Unless you have any helpful suggestions?" Elliot smiles back at you. "Just don't over think it. I'm sure she's just looking forward to spending time with you. Use this date as opportunity to get to know each other better so she knows you're serious about this. You'll be fine."

"Y'know, you're not nearly as weird as I expected you to be." Elliot chuckles. "I'll take that as a compliment." "I meant it as a compliment."

Dani walks back to the two of you. "Hey San, ready to go?" "Yeah let's go." Dani says goodbye to Elliot and the two of you get into your car. "So, how bad was it?" Dani says sarcastically and you poke your tongue out at her in response. "Surprisingly not that bad.", you admit. "I told you that they are all really nice. They're a little weird and Rachel can be a handful but they're good friends." "If you say so...", you joke.

"So are you ready for our date Saturday?", you ask. "Are you gonna tell me where we're going?"

"Nope.", you laugh. "Why not?"

"Because... It's kind of nerdy-ish." "Nerdy-ish?", she says with a chuckle. "Sort of but not really..." "That's sort of vague." "Good, you'll see where we're going on Saturday."

You pull up to Dani's house and put the car in park. "So I'll see you tomorrow then?"

"6 o'clock right?" "Yup." "Ok, see you tomorrow." Dani leans over to peck your cheek and waves to you before going inside. Now you just had to wait for tomorrow night.

* * *

You start getting ready for your date at about 5:30. You take a quick shower and shuffle through the things in your closet. Eventually you decide on the same dress you bought the day you went shopping with Dani and Quinn. You're taking her to a nice little restaurant first. It's a little fancy but it's not over expensive or anything like that.

You put on a bit of make up and double check to make sure you have your wallet and phone before driving over to Dani's. You knock on the door trying not to look as anxious as you feel. The door opens and you don't know whether to laugh or gasp because Dani evidently has the same thought as you and is wearing the blue dress from the mall, and she looks gorgeous. It looks even better on her than it did that day now that she paired it with a cropped black leather jacket, her blonde hair hanging in loose curls from her ponytail. "You look amazing." Dani smiles with a slight blush. "So do you. Ready to go?" "Yeah let's go." You faintly hear Quinn call out, "Be back by eleven!", as Dani shuts the door.

You arrive at the restaurant and hold open the door for her. She looks around in awe. "Wow, this place is fancy, doesn't cost too much, right?" "Don't worry, I know it's looks fancy buts it's really just nicely decorated."

The waiter takes your order and te two of you make small talk. Your nerves have calmed down a bit and you try and looked confident. "I feel so classy here.", Dani giggles. You smile at the sound of her sweet, infectious laughter. "So you like it then?"

"Of course I like it. To be honest I wouldn't even care if we were eating at McDonald's as long as you came with me." _Guess Elliot was right about not worrying too_ much. When you don't respond, Dani put her hand over her face and says "Oh my god, that was so cheesy. I can't believe I just said that."

"It wasn't cheesy, it was cute.", you say reaching across the table for her hand, your nerves continuing to slip away.

The waiter returns with your food and you fall into a comfortable silence. "Hey, let me try some of yours.", Dani says. You scoop some of it onto your fork and reach it across the table. "Ok, now I feel like I'm in a romantic comedy." The two of you giggle like little kids as you finished your food.

"Ready to go?" "We headed home?"

"Actually I wanted to stop somewhere else." Dani gives you a puzzled look but links her arm with yours as the two of you walk outside. You keep walking until you stop at the doors of the little cafe. "What is this? Like a coffee place?"

"Um it's more like a board game café, like you can get coffee too but then you like just play board games and I don't know Quinn said you like board games and coffee and stuff so I thought... Too cheesy?" Dani lets out a deep laugh at your rambling. "Are you kidding? This is awesome. I love games, besides I told you that it didn't matter where we went as long as we do it together."

The two of you go inside an order drinks and play some games. After a few rounds of checkers and failed attempt at Dani trying to teach you how to play chess she sees something else that catches her eye.

"Om my god, it's Jenga!" "Jenga?" "Yeah, y'know, the game where you stack up all the little wooden block and take them out without knocking over the tower? C'mon, let's play!"

Dani begins setting up the blocks in a tower shape and explaining the rules to you. You remeber what Elliot said to you about using this to get to know her better. "Ok, I got it. So how about every time I get one out, I get to ask you a question and you have to answer no matter what?" "Hmm ok, but every time I get one out, you have to give me a kiss.", she says with a smirk. "Oh um, ok but loser has to plan the next date."

"So sure you're getting a second date Lopez?" "Hell yeah, I'm sure.", you smirk.

You go first and opt to take one out of the middle where it seems to be the most stable. "Ok, that's one for me. Soo, what's the craziest thing you've ever done?"

"Umm, one time I dyed my hair blue." You look at her in shock. "Blue?!"

"Yeah, it was eighth grade, I went through this sort of punk rock phase. I spent all my time in my room blasting music." "Ok, now that I remember.", you laugh at the memory of Quinn banging on the wall yelling at Dani to turn the music down.

"My turn." Dani pulls one of the wooden rectangles from the stack. "Looks like you owe me a kiss."

She leans across the table, and you feel your heart racing. The two of you meet in the middle and you gently press your lips against hers. They're unimaginably soft, and the kiss lasts just a second, short and sweet.

You pull back and resist the urge to say something stupid like 'wow'. You're pretty sure you don't want this game to end anymore. You forget that you're even staring until she says, "It's your turn Santana.".

"Oh yeah, whoops."

The two of you continue going back and forth between kisses and questions. After Dani successfully plus out another block she leans forward to kiss you but accidently bumps the table, knocking over the stack of blocks.

"Ha! I win!" "No fair!", she pouts. You almost give in but instead you lean forward and kiss the pout off her lips. She sighs and gives you a playful smile. "Guess I'm planning the next one, huh?"

You toss her a wink. "Told you I would get a second date."

"Yeah yeah, whatever. It's getting late, we should probably go."

You walk back to the car together and drive back to Dani's house in a comfortable silence. "I'll walk you to the door."

You stop in front of the entrance and turn to face her. "So, I guess this is goodbye." She smiles back at you. "For now." You see her move closer and you lean down so she won't have to stretch. Your lips press together, and one hand moves to cup her chin. The kiss is soft and sweet, more sensual than the ones in the cafe. You both break apart smiling. "I'll see you later San."

You make sure she gets inside safely before returning to your car. That goofy smile remaining on your face the rest of the night.

* * *

**AN: Hope you liked it!**

**I gave Dani some friends, they might be just a little OOC but I wanted to have more than three characters in this story. **

**I would love some feedback about what you thought of the date, because there will be more in the future.**

**As always let me know what you thought of the chapter, anything you'd like to see, and review, review, review!**

**Review goal and shout out for the next chapter is 100.**


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